Deadly crash claims the life of 10-year-old boy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Maranatha church is mourning one of its own, 10-year-old Eli Warren.

“We’ll be honest we don’t understand why this happened,“ Pastor Jeff Henderson said. “He literally is the type of kid whose personality lights up a room.”

Henderson has known the Warren family for about a decade. He baptized Eli and says the 10-year-old was very faith-based. He was heavily involved in the church and described as a leader among his friends.

“We’re feeling a lot of grief and a ton of heartache.” Henderson said.

Eli and his mother, Releia Warren, were driving down I-10 when they were hit by a tractor-trailer on Tuesday night.

The tractor-trailer was in the left lane heading eastbound near Chaffee Road. Florida Highway Patrol said the Honda Odyssey was driving on the opposite side of the road, also in the left lane. The tractor-trailer went off the road into the grass median, overturned and hit the mother and son head-on.

Jim Harvey, a former truck driving instructor, explained drivers go through a four to eight week course.

Then, they go through several months of shadowing in order to learn how to handle a big rig. Action News Jax reporter, Meghan Moriarty, asked if there are any mandatory refresher courses that truckers have to go through after a certain number of years. Harvey said, no. He added that once a truck overturns, the driver has no control over it.

“If he slid on top of the median into oncoming traffic, there’s not much the training or anything else could do.” Harvey said.

Releia Warren is in critical condition and we’re told she is heavily sedated.

Right now, the family is hoping for a speedy recovery and asking for prayers.

“No parent plans what to do with the final resting place of their 10-year-old son.” Henderson said. “So there’s a lot of questions to be answered, and a lot of cost be encountered.”

The church has set up a page where people can make donations to help the family if they wish.

STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories

© 2020 Cox Media Group